John Cali
Since we’ve been talking about death in several recent newsletters, I thought we’d take a parting shot at this thing so many dread more than any other human experience. Next week, we’ll move on to “lighter” subjects.
Way back when I was a young pilot, I had a close encounter with death I’ll never forget.
I was ferrying a small plane from Pennsylvania to Virginia one hot summer afternoon. There were thunderstorms in the area, but I couldn’t see them. They were what we used to call “embedded” thunderstorms. The haze and humidity were so thick you couldn’t see the storm clouds. And my little plane didn’t have weather radar.
In a fraction of one terrifying second, I was sucked into maelstrom of thunder, lightning, hail, and heavy rain. My plane and I were tossed and shaken like a leaf in a windstorm. I literally did not know which way was up or down.
Although I was young, only in my 20s, I’d logged a couple thousand hours of flying time. But that, obviously, was not enough to have kept me out of this hell of a mess.
At first, I was scared stiff, knowing I was about to die. I was over the mountains, and I knew they were just a few hundred feet below me.
Suddenly, a deep sense of peace descended over me. I said to myself, “Well, if I’m going to die, it’s okay. At least I will have gone down doing what I love to do — flying.”
I was ready to go. And it didn’t matter any more. I closed my eyes and savored the sweet taste of death. All was well.
Spirit
You have all tasted death many times in many lifetimes. Death is a familiar companion. And an inevitable fact of life. You can no more avoid death than you can life. They are part of the same continuum, spanning your eternal existence.
Most of you do not clearly remember, if you remember at all, your so-called past lives. Or your past deaths.
You’ve died many times — some of you hundreds, even thousands, of times. There is nothing more familiar — or sweet — to your soul than death.
For death is simply a new beginning, just as birth is. As we said, they are simply different parts of your continuum of eternal life.
Where many of you, if not most, get into difficulty is in believing the world’s view of death. Death is a tragedy. Death is the end. Death is the worst thing that can happen. Or so your mass consciousness would have you believe.
And most of you do believe it. Even your spiritual organizations and groups, which ought to bring you at least some comfort, bring you little comfort, little peace.
We do not have a magic wand we can wave over the human race and erase your fear of death. Only you, individually, have such a magic wand.
That magic wand is shifting your perspective of death. It may be a slow process for many, but not for all.
Once you accept death as a part of life, as a part of your growth as an eternal being of light, you will find much peace, and even joy.
And that can happen in an instant, as it did with John when his little plane seemed doomed.
What happens in moments like these, friends, is you remember who you are. This is not always — in fact, rarely — a deliberately conscious decision. It just happens spontaneously, as it did with John.
You get this brief shining moment of insight. And you remember who you truly are. In that moment of remembering, all fear vanishes. Only peace and joy remain. And you know, in your heart of hearts, all is well. You know there is no death, only life.
And so you savor the sweet taste of death, for you know it is only a new beginning.
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